Root Down in the Shadow

The buzz has been all about Sonja Sofya and her new album The Patterns We Know .  Tonight Sonja Sofya and band take to the stage at Boot & Saddle in South Philly along with a great line-up featuring Arc Divers and the dove and the wolf. Right off the top we have some great reasons to expect great things from this album, such as produced by Ross Bellenoit at Turtle Studios and excellent musicianship by guitarist/producer Ross Bellenoit, bassist Jonathan Colman , and drummers Matt Scarano and Jonas Oesterle . But we at Root Down In The Shadow wanted to dig further and see what Sonja had to say about the album. Here's 3 questions we had for the songstress Sonja Sofya: RDITS: What was the impetus to make a full length record and why did you pick the people you worked with? At a certain point, playing and writing as much as I was, it felt like the logical next step, but I waited for a while, trying to find the "perfect" time to go into the stud

Here's a wonderfully bluesy tease to the upcoming Chris Kasper album.   New single "City By The Sea", is just enough to keep fans from getting restless, while he tours with Carsie Blanton along the West Coast.  Hopefully there will be some local dates soon, as 2017 seems so far off right now. City by the Sea by Chris Kasper

Bandade Music is very aware of the power of music in our lives. Formed in Nashville in 2015 and now located in Philadelphia, Bandade works to build community, raise awareness, and fight cancer through music. So far, they’ve had support from Alabama Shakes , Jason Isbell , Florence Welch , Sam Beam of Iron and Wine , and more; and since their move to Philadelphia, local artists are playing a major role in the Bandade community, helping to raise funds to fight cancer, and transforming an ordinary Wednesday night into an opportunity to be part of a larger purpose. Last month, Philly artists the dove & the wolf and Dirty Dollhouse highlighted the most recent Bandade benefit, and Root Down in the Shadow was there. Learn more about Bandade and see their calendar of upcoming shows at MyBandadeMusic.com . the dove & the wolf the dove and the wolf - photo by Dan McGurk Upon first listen, Paris turned Philly expats the dove & the wolf stir something gloriously familiar

Arc Iris returns to Philly this Wednesday, at Boot & Saddle with friends Superhuman Happiness and Birdie Busch.   To catch you up to speed, here's a little review of Moon Saloon to get you excited about the show.   If a well crafted album is meant to be a journey and an exploration, Arc Iris' Moon Saloon manages to accomplish both for its musicians and listeners. Opening with a simple four-tap count-off from a gently gated hi-hat, "Kaleidoscope" kicks Moon Saloon off with Ray Belli (drums) and Zach Tenorio-Miller (keys) digging into a syncopated boom bap groove as Robin Ryczek (cello) surges in with her own sonic undertow. With a single, shimmering guitar chord, Jocie Adams is introduced as the narrator. Her lyrical foundation is paved with questions and reflections. As the track pushes forward, the original lines are spliced with slight variations and embellishments as a larger form takes shape. The track grows exponentially as single-line

It's Folk Festival Time for everyone in the Philadelphia area.  Have you checked out the newly updated Philadelphia Folk Festival website?   The site is so easy you can personalize your own schedule for the festival.    Other fests say you can do it, but they still end up being super cumbersome. You can sort this by stage or date, or just select a bunch of favorites from any page and have them show up as highlights to the schedule with the "Show My Schedule" button. But even if you a super easy site isn't for you, here's Root Down In The Shadow 's "Five to See Live" at the 55th Philadelphia Folk Festival presented by Philadelphia Folksong Society.  Hurricane Hoss  Friday 3:30 Martin  Guitar Main Stage:   Hurricane Hoss is everything country & folk music needs. None of this bro, country-pop with bimbos in the videos. Hoss brings back swagger and sass and has the chops to back it up. The backing band this year is a veritable "

Wooo Hooooo It's XPoNential Fest Time!!!!  Every year WXPN brings a ton of great bands and artists to the Wiggins Park shore in Camden, NJ.  With so many bands on the line-up it's daunting to figure out which bands to see.  Fortunately, the way WXPN does the line-ups you CAN make it to every band should you choose.  However, we all know it's going to be hot as hell.  Not quite as hot as 2011 with the 100 degree days, but still super hot.   Luckily for us, some of the festival performers have put in their two cents for which bands they are excited about. Rosemary Fiki   starts the fest at 4pm today on the JerseyArts.Com Marina Stage. Let's see what she's recommending: Band Most Excited to Share the Festival Stage with : This is our first time time performing at XPoNential so to be completely honest, I'm super stoked to share the Festival stage with everyone! If I absolutely had to choose, I would say The Districts. We actually shared the stage wit

In recent years if Philly music fans hadn't seen Ron Gallo a half-dozen or so times by mid-year, they must have tried to avoid him.  But as the calendar turned to 2016, Ron Gallo packed up his talents and left for Nashville.  This summer tour, including a stop at Philly's JOHNNY BRENDA'S, is the first chance for many to catch Ron Gallo in quite a while.  Let's see what Ron has been up to, as he chatted with Root Down In The Shadow. Once upon a time you were everywhere in Philly, but then after 1 (or 2) farewell show(s) you were gone to Nashville at the end of 2015 Part of moving to Nashville and leaving Philly behind, was not being stuck in the same old stuff, doing shows with the same crew, taking a step forward. Going to Nashville however meant playing shows with old friends like Jordan Hull and Joe Fletcher . Do you have fears of getting into the same ruts? i always have a natural fear of growing stagnant. even while in philly i could never sit still. t

If you haven't noticed, we're big fans of Max García Conover.   A few months ago we chronicled Max García Conover's first videos with Sofar Sounds.   Now we're back as there are 2 more to share! Max has now done 8 Sofar Sounds across the country and if the other cities are lucky enough, hopefully more to of these posts will follow. Here's performances from Philadelaphia and Maine:     Eddie's Wine | Sofar Philadelphia As Much a Rising Sun As a Setting One (Part 2) | Sofar Maine   Hopefully his appearance from Nashville will be following soon!

As a music fan, one of my favorite activities is chatting about seeing amazing bands in interesting places.  While I'm stoked to see Pearl Jam later this month in an arena, I was more excited to see Lucius at mid-sized Union Transfer where I could be two feet away from them.  I'm edge of my chair excited to see J. Roddy Walston & The Business, playing the tiny Ortlieb's. Sometimes you know who to look for.  Sometimes you luck out and find amazing where you wouldn't expect it.  Sofar Sounds is a great way of finding magic in unexpected places.  Tonight we'll travel back through the Sofar Sounds: Boston archives for some gems.   Share some videos as you go and don't forget to sign up for your local Sofar Sounds IF you like what you see here, check out our top 20 performances of Sofar Sounds: Philadelphia in honor of their four year anniversary and to take a look at our friend Max García Conover's trip through some Sofar cities. November 2013 -